Zarif Accuses Netanyahu and Saudis of Trying to Provoke US into War with Iran
- Zarif Accuses Netanyahu and Saudis of Trying to Provoke US into War with Iran
by EDITH M. LEDERER, https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Top diplomat says Trump wants to pressure Tehran into talks, but being ‘lured into a trap’ by ‘the B Team’ — John Bolton, Bibi and bin Salman, who want ‘disintegration of Iran’
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NEW YORK (AP) — Iran’s top diplomat said Wednesday US President Donald Trump’s aim “is to bring us to our knees to talk” — but national security adviser John Bolton and key US allies in the Mideast want “regime change at the very least” and the “disintegration of Iran.”
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Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he doubts Trump wants conflict because the president ran on a campaign promise “not to waste another $7 trillion in our region in order to make the situation only worse.”
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But Zarif said what he called “the B team” — Bolton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed — is trying “to push Iran to take action” as a pretext for “crazy” and “adventurous” US actions.
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“President Trump has a plan, but he’s being lured into not a plan but a trap,” Zarif warned in a question-and-answer session at the Asia Society. “It will cost another $7 trillion and even a greater disaster.” Zarif said “it’s not a crisis yet, but it’s a dangerous situation,” adding that “accidents, plotted accidents are possible.”
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The Trump administration re-imposed sanctions on Iran, including on its energy sector, last November, after pulling America out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers.
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The US designation of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group earlier this month — the first ever for an entire division of another government — added another layer of sanctions to the powerful paramilitary force, making it a crime under US jurisdiction to provide the guard with material support.
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